OCC Dietetic Professor Beth Blake wins Outstanding Educator Award

College faculty and clinical educators from across the Western United States recognized Orange Coast College dietetic technician professor Beth Blake last month for her work as a teacher of nutrition and dietetics.

Courtesy photo.

The Nutrition and Dietetic Educators and Preceptors (NDEP) named Blake its 2018 Outstanding Educator of the Year in the Dietetic Technician category. The group, which advocates for and empowers dietetics educators, includes members who work in community colleges, hospitals, nutrition agencies, and private industry.

“Nutrition and dietetics is a profession of dedicated, enthusiastic, and very intelligent practitioners,” Blake says. “I’m constantly impressed by the work being done by my peers, so I feel very humbled to be recognized by them as I know we are all working hard to shape the future of nutrition and dietetics.”

Blake was a driving force behind the creation of the recently opened Pirates’ Cove food pantry on OCC’s campus. She is a member of the Nutrition Advisory Board at Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, and helped to facilitate a partnership between the organization and Orange Coast College. “Several years ago I gave an informal survey to one of my nutrition classes at OCC. I was shocked to see how many students reported not having enough money to buy food, or [who were] skipping meals because they could not afford them. At that moment I vowed to do something to help the situation.”

Orange Coast College, founded in 1947, is one of the nation’s top transfer schools. With a student population of 25,000, OCC provides exemplary programs leading to Associate degrees and 130 career programs. The college’s 164-acre campus is located in the heart of Costa Mesa.